The North Vancouver Remodel revitalizes an existing 1956 mid-century home for a couple with young children, maximizing available usable space to create a comfortable and functional home base for their family. The remodel elevates the experience of the existing home while honoring its mid-century origins, adding extensive new glazing to open the interior to light and views, and enhancing connections between living spaces and the landscape beyond.

The formal arrival sequence unfolds along a short garden pathway, culminating in a rusted steel entry box and weathered steel door that create a textural counterpoint to the home’s pre-weathered Kebony siding. One corner of a steel panel beside the door is peeled back to reveal a cheekily inset wall sconce that lights the front porch. Inside, a continuous, single plane roof is expressed throughout the home, maintaining the honesty of the original post and beam structure and drawing the eye through the interior to the forest beyond.

At the front of the home, an angled carport nods to the home’s mid-century roots, with slim cruciform steel columns that delicately support the cantilevering volume. The remodeled carport is pulled closer to the street to allow for a new enclosed storage space behind. Just beyond, a reconfigured mudroom connects an informal side entry to the main volume of the home’s interior. Here, a small powder room features a carved stone sink basin supported by a steel armature, highlighting the elegance and ingenuity of designing for tight spaces.

Within the central living area and gathering space, the home’s original brick fireplace is preserved as a focal point. New insertions of oversized windows and sliding doors along the back wall support a flow of activity between indoor and outdoor spaces, as well as capturing light and views. A long bookshelf, a feature of the existing home, separates this area from the main circulation hallway. Stripped of varnish that had discolored over time and reclad in bronze and blackened steel, the bookshelf anchors the interior living spaces and complements the home’s wood and glass palette. The adjacent kitchen and dining room, expanded and more efficiently organized, spills onto a new exterior deck with a generous awning to foster year-round use. Sliding windows create a pass-through connection between the kitchen and outdoor bar seating, adding new functionality for hosting friends and family.

The family’s bedrooms occupy the opposite side of the home, including an expanded primary suite with a spa-like bathroom and dramatic views to the forest. A custom steel stair, complementing the living room bookshelf, leads to a multi-functional open space on the lower level, which provides additional area for entertaining and play, as well as a Murphy bed and bathroom for guests, laundry and storage. Set into the topography of the sloping site, the lower level opens onto an exterior terrace with lap pool and lush landscaping.